Okay, let's get one thing straight: James Bond - the real Sean Connery James Bond - would rather defect than drive a BMW Z3. Bond drove Bentleys in Ian Fleming's novels. The switch to an Aston Martin DB5 for the 1964 movie Goldfinger was understandable because by then Bentleys were staid and far from the Silent Sports Cars of the novels. But a BMW roadster?
The
use of the Z3 sports car in GoldenEye, the latest Bond
movie, owes more to the size of BMW's wallet than its
appropriateness as 007's wheels. Neither Aston Martin, nor its
owners Ford, were prepared to match BMW's huge promotional budget
(said to be close to $20m). The new DB7, surely a more
appropriate machine, was therefore spurned.
Who can blame BMW? What better way to launch its US-built sports car than through a movie which ensures immediate international recognition. The Z3 isn't a niche car like an Aston or a Lotus Espirit (another former Bondmobile), but a mainstream sports car aimed at dethroning Mazda's MX-5 from its position as the world's best-selling open two-seater. So what if the Z3 is too small, bereft of elegance and performance, produced by a German car manufacturer and, well, rather common. It may be right for the politically correct '90s, but surely not for James Bond, patriot and chauvinist.
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But nothing will prevent the Z3 from being a resounding success. The badge, the price, and sheer, raw showroom appeal will guarantee this BMW is one of 1996's hot automotive items. It was the incredible (and unexpected) success of the ragtop Mazda, the intensifying need to build BMWs outside a too-expensive Germany, plus the desire to establish a new team-based method of designing and engineering new models which led to the Z3. By building the relatively low volume Z3 in the heartland of its biggest market - the USA - BMW could afford to take risks.
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Even in late 1990, at the time of the launch of the current 3 Series, there were no plans for a roadster version. Don't forget that BMW lost money on all 8000 of its then recently launched, high-priced, plastic-bodied Z1 sports car - best remembered for its disappearing doors - that's virtually identical in size to today's Z3.
But the development of the Compact platform made it easy to conceive an affordable, open two-seater. By mid-1992 the in-house design had been given the green light by the board.
BMW had no compunction in adopting
traditional roadster design elements and proportions. Hence the
massively long bonnet, a cockpit that's pushed as far rearwards
as possible without forcing the seats over the rear axle line and
an abrupt, squat tail.
From some angles - three-quarter rear is best -
the styling works well. But from others the nose is too wide and
heavy, the flanks excessively fat. The Z3 can look far bigger
than its actual dimensions, and pudgy with it. In profile it's
pure retro, yet the dipping waistline through the cockpit area
weakens the overall impression.
Front on - that nose is so reminiscent of the new 5 Series - you can't believe the Z3 is only 75mm longer, 58mm taller, and marginally narrower than the MX-5.
Some of the
detailing is exquisite: those 507-style vents (along with
windscreen pillars and door handles, they can be chromed) behind
the bulging wheel arches being the real highlight.
The interior is more conventional...and mildly disappointing. There's more room than in the MX-5 and the driving position's comfortable, yet it feels too much like an open 3 Series, not enough like a true sports car. Too much ill-fitting black plastic and the optional mock-wood just make it look even cheaper.
Maybe the poor impression is also helped because you
sit high, behind a fixed steering wheel that is too big. And the
gearchange, despite having a shorter than usual lever, is
excessively long and imprecise. Pushing the seats rearwards might
create an enormous clamshell bonnet - it looks almost E-Type from
the driver's seat - but it also means there's no room behind the
seats for a serious luggage bin. The two small lockable
compartments are only big enough for sunglasses and even these
are replaced by a speaker if you order the optional sound system.
The well shaped boot holds 180 litres (to the MX-5's 135).
The single-layer soft-top is easy enough to erect. There are just two clips on the windscreen header rail, though you do have to get out of the car to remove the leatherette tonneau cover that folds neatly into the roof's well. The hood cover sits proud of the body because there just is no room for a 3 Series cabrio style metal lid. By the time the Z3 goes on sale in Australia next year both a hardtop and electric operation should have joined the already long options list.
Though the engineers chopped 254mm from the Compact's platform, the Z3's 2446mm wheelbase is still 181mm longer than the MX-5. This is easily the biggest physical difference between the two, except for weight. The 990kg MX-5 is 190kg lighter than the Z3. Still, you know it's been put to good use because the body structure is amazingly rigid and warrants comparison with the Mercedes SL, until now the strongest two-seater.
In many markets, but not Australia, BMW plans to sell the Z3 with the 85kW 1.8 litre engine from the 318i. This is the entry level version, priced less than A$1000 above the MX-5 in Germany. Even so, given the expectations of the marque and the voluptuous styling, it feels under-powered, as the 10.5sec run to 100km/h indicates. When a 1.8 litre MX-5 takes an official 8.7sec, it's hard not to dismiss this Z3 as a hairdresser's car.
Australian buyers, however, get an enlarged motor- both bore and stroke are extended for a capacity of 1895 cubic cm - variant of the 16v in-line four from the 318is. There's no badging to distinguish the two engines, but the more spirited model's expected to sell for close to A$60,000, despite being built in low-cost South Carolina. That's a healthy A$35,000 below the 328i Cabrio.
Reworked to reduce friction and enhance refinement, never a strong suit of the M42, the new M44 engine develops the same 103kW at 6000rpm, but torque has been increased slightly to 180Nm at 4300rpm. You have the choice of a five-speed manual or four-speed GM auto. We drove the manual only.
The engine's smoother and more lively than the 1.8, but you still need to work the gear lever hard. The 1.9 Z3 never seems especially quick though this may, of course, be the ultimate tribute to the rest of the car. However, the car never feels or sounds especially exhilarating. BMW claims a 9.5sec time for the 0-100km/h sprint, still slower than the MX-5 which remains a better, more stimulating drive.
It delivers linear power from idle to the 6600rpm cut-out yet seems to demand 3500rpm plus if it's to be at all spirited, while the exhaust note is a contrived, metallic sound, restricted to a wheeze rather like a Dodge Viper.
Will there be a more powerful engine to complement that exaggerated bonnet? The Munich rumour mill suggests BMW's 142kW 2.8 litre six slots right in and the engineers are quite open in admitting there are no technical reasons why it won't fit. Expect this version to arrive in 1997.
Coming from Compact underpinnings means the Z3 inherits the old-style semi-trailing arm rear suspension instead of the multi-link rear axle of other 3 Series models, although all use the same MacPherson strut front suspension. But the Z3 gets wider tracks, spring and damper rates tuned to match its weight, slightly less suspension travel and, importantly, quicker power steering: 2.9 turns lock to lock instead of 3.4.
HTML by Keith Tanner
The transcription of Not So Fast, 007, an article that appeared in the January 1996 issue of Wheels, Australia's premier automotive magazine, was specifically authorized for upload to this site by the Editor, Angus MacKenzie, and the article's author, Peter Robinson. A copy of the file was obtained for release here from the transcriber to Miataville, section 15 of CompuServe's Automobile Forum. Authorization for reproduction in other locations, electronic or otherwise, must not be assumed and must be independently sought, if desired, in writing from Wheels.